© Emile Mentz / RTL
Nine hectares of dry meadow fields, dry stone walls and rock formations have become a home to many animals and plants.
For more than 40 years, the Foundation Hëllef fir d’Natur ('Helping Nature') has been dedicated to the preservation and creation of targeted biotopes through various projects, such as "Life, Bats and Birds" and the "Grünlandprojet."
"For the orchid meadows we have been working in the context of our 'Life Orchis' project. We also have a large grassland project aimed at restoring the meadows' flowers. Additionally, we have the EU project 'Life, Bats and Birds,' which is essentially a continuation of Orchis. We have now completed the first phase of restoring diverse biotopes that support a wide variety of plants, which in turn attract many insects, providing abundant food for birds and bats," explains Patrick Losch, President of the foundation.
Remnants of vineyard terraces
Long ago, the steep slopes between Grevenmacher and Machtum were used for growing wine. Today, most of the vineyards lie uncultivated. The remaining dry stone walls not only stabilise the slopes but also offer other benefits, as Yves-Kail from the House of Nature explains:
"In a dry stone wall, 25% of the volume is air. This means that not only can water pass through from the slope, but there are also numerous spaces where vegetation, as well as small reptiles and insects, can find shelter. This construction method is nature-friendly, environmentally sustainable, and essentially a man-made biotope."
Such man-made biotopes can also be built in home gardens. Even government agencies such as the National Roads Administration could use dry stone walls as retaining walls for roads and thereby help biodiversity at the same time.
Goats keep the site clean
In order to control unwanted plant species, goats are kept on the terraces to create space for flowers and other grasses.
"This is our third year of grazing here. Four years ago, the area was cleared of bushes, as everything had naturally overgrown. As you can see now, the woody plants that are browsed every year are either not coming back at all or are much less prevalent. Some other plants are emerging, which is to be expected. […] but if I understand correctly, monitoring has shown that grasses and plants, especially flowers, which were hoped for in the project, are now growing in the area," says Alex Mesenburg, a hobby shepherd.
A win-win situation indeed for animals and conservation workers, further explains Alex Mesenburg.
"At the moment I have a herd of 75 goats that do their utmost best to keep the site clean. This works as well as it does because the goats find themselves in their natural habitat where they can roam around on the hilly rocks and terraces. On top of that, everyone is more than happy to skip needing to clear the area by hand with shears or drive a machine, which the terrain doesn't allow."
Results are already visible
Even if there is still a lot of work left to be done for nature to be fully restored, the results of the conservation efforts are already visible, according to Patrick Losch, President of the foundation Hëllef fir d’Natur.
"We have a range of grasses that were never there before. We have our first orchids coming back, birds are returning and we have an increasing number of bats in the area too. Recently, a student also presented a study on wild bee species. The study concluded that we once again have a high number of different wild bees settling in the area now that the terrain is fit for their needs.“
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